The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-05-12
DWARFS AND NIIDGETS.
The Whims and Oddities of These Little
People.

1.-The dwarf business isn't what il
once was"
William Wheeler, for years midget
speculator, leaned musingly against
the anarchist cage and endeavored to
catch the eye of the waxy August Spies,
who was staring at Miss Van Zandt
across the hall.
''Then, too, continued Mr.. Wheeler.
''dwarfs are running out. A few years
ago they were springing up, though
not very high, in all parts of the world.
1t seemed to be a sort of dwarf age.
For while 35-ineh dwarf could not
earn a living salary. He had to pos
sess some striking physical feature if
he hoped to secure permanent situa-
tiOns with museum circuits. Now,
however, all this has changed Lots of
the old time Lilliputians have passed
away, and a 40-inch freak can get a
chair in a first-class curio hall if he is
goOd-lOoking and intelligent. The
business was very nearly ruined at one
time by tricksters. As you have posi-
bly, observed, midgets without excep-
tions have abnormally large heads.
Unprincipled shOwmen, when the
dwarf supply became inadequate,
"OuAu W I'LL
and old faces and work them upon the
circuits. There suddenly became such
an influx of little folks upon the mar
ket that none of the true midgets aside
from Mrs. Stratton or Admiral Dot,
could get work that paid. This has
passed away, and there is no fraud
about the present representatives Of
dwarfdom.
1r14
formed midgets. These were Mrs.
Gen. Tom Thumb, who is now Count
ess Rosebud, and Princess Lucy There
is always some deformity. Take Gen.
Ton. Thumb, for instance. He was badly
developed in the torso. Other people
have poorly-constructed limbs or arms,
and almost universally they are double
jointed at the knees OF elbows. You
see, the lack of stature must be attri-
buted to something, and as nearly as /
can make out it is joints.
''What is the most striking charac-
teristic of these freaks? Intemperance.
There is no class of people on earth
that is so given to drink. The males
always like whisky, and the females
dote on beer. Gen. Tom Thumb was
fond of smoking. but aside from him
tobacco is not used among the men.
81 never knew of but one family
wherein dwarfs appeared in more than
one generation. This occurred in that
of Admiral Dot. He is the uncle Of
Maj. Adams, the midget clown of the
Barnum show: Adams is twenty-one
inches in heighth, and his father was
nearly six feet tall. Dot is travelling
about the country now with little Jsn-
ME Quigley. They earn jointly 500 a
week
Speaking about Princess Lucy re-
minds me of the event that brought her
into prominence. Years ago when
Countess Rosebud was Mrs. Tom
Thumb, report was circulated that
she had been blessed with child.
This was not the case, and the story
was made out of whole cloth by one OF
Barnum's advertising agents. The
Thumb family were unconscientious
enough to take advantage of the
canard. They had heard of the little
Princess Lucy, and Mrs Thumb sent
for her and offered to adopt her, send
her to a convent for a few wears
and introduce her to the world as her
daughter. The scheme was a capital
one, for it was impossible to tell
whether Lucy is or 40 years old. The
princess declined the offer. She is now
earning 5000 a week for being
eighteen inches high.
There are several instances where
midgets appeared in single genera
ton of the family. The Harris sisters
are quadruplets. They vary in height
from thirty-six to forty-two inches, and
are the daughters of very poor man
in Eastport, Me. The father,
mechanic, was magnificent specimen
of physical manhood, large and power
full of build, and the mother was above
medium size. These sisters are badly
deformed. all of them having double.
jointed elbows. Beides this they en-
joy the reputation of being the home
liest midget sin the business. Young
Foster, whose nom de museum is Hop
o My Thumb, is twenty-eight inches
tall. He has baby brother, not yet q
year old that weighed when ten days
old one and one-half pounds.
Lucy Zarata earns the largest
salary of any dwarf in the world. She
is native of Vera Cruz, Mexico. and
is very small. Her head is propor-
toned nicely to her physique, but is
shaped like that of an ape. Joseph
Smith is her manager, and he gets
$500 week for exhibiting her. Tho
little women can not win the affections
of full-grown mankind, but the men
are more fortunate. Baron Little
finger married lady over five feet tall,
and is the happy father of four fine
children. The late Commodore Mutt
welded a Manchester, n. H., girl five
feet five inches tall, and left one child
at his death. Minnie Warren, sister
of the Countess Rosebud, it is true,
married roller-skater named Newell,
who was with Nat Goodwin in the
Skating Rink" Newell however,
while hardly midget, is greatly under
size.
'tMidgets are a nervous lot, and few
of them are more than passably in
telligent. They fly off on a tangent
like dove from a hornets nest. Hop
o My Thumb is the ugliest yOungster
of them all, and he frequently INDUCES
in spasms of rage. Dangerous? Well,
as much as twenty-eight inches of
humanity could be expected to be-
Detroit Tii.ihlJne